Hi! My name is Chase and I will be graduating with degrees in Information Sciences and Graphic Design. Combining these two curriculums, I’m a digital product designer driven to solve problems through interactive, visual, and data-driven ideation. Particularly, I find excitement when I design products that impact people’s well-being, livelihood, and entertainment. I also enjoy working with products that attempt to support social issues, such as the environment and climate change. Inspired by the passing of my cousin and the desire to improve people’s lives, I created Soulrise, a digital interface that uses recreational therapy as a method to improve the patient experience in healthcare settings. From the National Library of Medicine, about 64% of patients are severely anxious and 74% are severely depressed hospitalized patients. More patients with less than two weeks of hospital stay were severely depressed than severely anxious (72.7% vs. 36.3%). There were 20% of patients with moderate anxiety and depression with a hospital stay longer than three weeks and 80% with severe anxiety and depression. Essentially, there is a high incidence of anxiety and depression in surgical patients. Throughout ideation, I learned and understood how recreational therapy, such as neural-stimulating games and activities, can play a role in the healthcare user experience because these types of interventions can support a patient’s well-being and mental health during their stay, which overall helps doctors give patients better care. Acknowledging the benefits, Soulrise uses games, movies, readings, and chat features to alleviate stress and anxiety and boost the soul and morale of patients.
